Is There Abduction in Aristotle? Peirce, Eco, and Some Further Remarks

Abstract

In several places of the Collected Papers , Peirce states that Abduction, or adoption of a Hypothesis, the form of inference he has discovered and described, could be found in Aristotle, though not fully developed. Umberto Eco (1983), investigates, following Peirce, the presence of abductive elements in Aristotle, and extends Peirce's scope, finding more traces of hypothetical logic. The purpose of this article is to extend and refine the inquiry, trying to answer the question "Did Aristotle know Abductive reasoning?"

Keywords

• abduction
• aristotle
• peirce
• eco
• inference